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War of the Dorian Houses
The War of the Dorian Houses was a civil war in Dorio from 433 DR to 436 DR. The warring parties were the loyalists to the ruling Therenane family, and rebels in favor of returning the Belthions to power. Breakout of war After the accession of King Albus III in 432 DR, the Therenane regime was met with significant criticism for its decades of weakness and the loss of most of the Dorian Empire. In particular, Albus was criticized for trying to help Bicana, the final rebellious province, secede, despite the wishes of Governor Aberforth Canting. Even when Aberforth was assassinated in 433, Albus refused to continue fighting, and instead quickly released Bicana before Dorian forces could continue the war. By this point, pro-rebellion sentiment was distinctly brewing in Dorio, but it came to a head after Bicana captured Leonidas Tudas, who had assassinated Canting, and Albus called for his acquittal. In reaction, Grant Belthion went into open rebellion against Dorio, and called for other lords to join him in deposing the "cowards and incompetents on the Dorian throne" and the "upstart sons of a treasonous bastard," alluding to Evan I's infamous origin. Most old noble families (the Hallerans, the Cantings, the Desmans, the Riveses) were quick to join the Belthionist cause. At the Battle of Cabalonvale, the first real battle in the war, Grant moved to seize the city from the still-Therenanist Cabalon family; however, he was met with significant opposition, as the peasantry was mostly in favor of the Therenanes as well. Although the Belthionists found themselves losing the first battle, they were quick to turn it around. Fields of fire As the sides began moving to traditional pitched field battles, the Belthionists gradually took the advantage over the Therenanists, as they were able to afford more strategists, and had a longer legacy of dominance in battle. The Belthionists began claiming cities and closing in towards the two main Therenanist strongholds, Cabalonvale and Cantingvale. The easternmost areas of Dorio, such as Bagring and Elhall, were also more loyal to the Therenane family, but the Belthionists were able to effectively rule the west of Dorio by the autumn of 434. The loud, smoky, bloody plains in which the pitched battles were held became known as "fields of fire," and soldiers' journals of the time suggest that open gunfights were hellish. In particular, cannons could be devastating to groups of musketmen, and as the Belthionists had more cannons, they were able to win most firefield battles. Legunar aid In the last days of 434, the Therenanists managed to successfully petition the Legunar government for a supply of cannons, and so the Belthionists suddenly found their firefield ace-in-the-hole used against them as well. This forced most battles to an impasse, having large numbers of casualties with no major gains or losses for either side. Thus, 435 was a very demoralizing year for soldiers on both sides, as the borders mostly stayed the same and soldiers were dying by the thousands. The Belthionist faction, since it held most of the land, remained at an advantage, but Albus was determined not to surrender until it was unavoidable. Final stretch of war In the winter of 435, Cabalonvale finally fell to Grant Belthion's forces, and with a siege of Cantingvale imminent, Albus decided to try to boost morale by personally riding with his armies. This had mixed results - having their king alongside them helped morale somewhat, but soldiers were underwhelmed that Albus— who was fearful of plumbarches— stayed relatively uninvolved in the combat. Grant decided to prioritize capturing Albus as a military objective, rather than trying to assault the strongly defended city of Cantingvale, and after several failed attempts, Bertram Canting finally managed to take Albus captive at the Battle of High Belt in summer 436. Grant then took the throne, and the war was effectively over. Riots then broke out in Cantingvale, Cabalonvale, and Hethvale, but Grant was able to subdue them with threats of assassinating Albus. Category:Wars